Digimon: A Cracked Crown
by Ikusa1107
Summary: Duftmon is the Tactician of the Royal Knights, a group of powerful Mega Level Digimon who serve Yggdrasil and fight for justice. What if it wasn't that simple though? What is true justice? Duftmon has her answer, and it may not be what she expected..


**Chapter 1: Dusty Hands**

It was night. The sky speckled with the lights of stars contrasting the ebony sky. A faint clanging could be heard through the cool night air. A lone figure stood in an empty field, accompanied only by a single wooden pole, reinforced with several metal plates. The figure was panting softly, her hands shaking from the cold.

"Again." she said, her voice weak from exhaustion. Without pause, she raised her fists and began to jab at the pole, weaving left to right as she did. She eased her breath and exhaled with each hit, trying to gain speed without losing her accuracy.

After nearly 45 seconds of non-stop movement, jabbing and kicking, she stopped.

"Dammit, Duftmon…" She said, out of breath. "That isn't good enough…"

Omegamon stood at the window, looking out onto the field. It was early morning now, and he saw the lone post there, dented and chipped. A small smile decorated his face behind his helmet. He knew who had left it out without a moment of thought. Turning to his right, he continued down the hall to the War Room. As he entered the room, he was greeted with a rather humorous situation.

"Dynasmon, I hardly see how this is any of your business." Duftmon said, her emerald eyes locked on the white and blue dragon man Digimon. She had been seated at the end of the room, taking down notes in her notebook.

"Duftmon, I can respect some after hours training and normally, yes. It wouldn't be my business what you do in your free time." He responded, meeting her stare with his own. He was near the entrance, with his arms folded in frustration. "But when it disrupts our precious rest time, I think it warrants a-"

"The only thing this warrants is a swift kick to your ears." she said coldly, interrupting him

Dynasmon gritted his teeth as she spoke. Just then, he noticed a tall, white figure enter from the doorway. "Sir Omegamon!" He exclaimed in surprise.

"Don't mind me, Dynasmon. By all means, continue." He said, teasingly.

Duftmon stood and bowed her head to her superior. "Sir." she said cordially. "Good, now we can begin."

Omegamon took his seat, which was at the end of the circular table near the back end of the room, Dynasmon sat at his, across from Duftmon. The other Ten Seats remained empty.

Duftmon took a small breath before she raised her hand, triggering the center console. A holographic map of the area propped up in front of Duftmon. She began to focus the model onto the Castle, their home and base of Operations. She began.

"The time is 6am. As you know, the other 9 Knights were at the Metal Empire, trying to negotiate a peace Treaty with President Chaosdramon. I received a report at 3am stating that the negotiations ended in success. They will be returning at 10am, via the matter transporter. Until then, the morning patrol must be done, and we must run a routine check on the Digimon in the valley."

Dynasmon, looked at the hologram, noticing a small red circle appear near the base of the Castle. "What about this?" He asked, motioning at the marker.

Duftmon looked and scoffed. "That, Dynasmon, is your assignment. There was an anomaly on our scanners this morning. I will have a few Knightmons take the patrol for today. This anomaly is yours to investigate.

"Hm. Very well then." He said, crossing his arms. "So you are the mon heading down to the village then?"

Duftmon nodded then shifted her gaze to a different section of the hologram. "Sir Omegamon, your daughter will be here momentarily. She requested that you be the first face she sees this time."

Omegamon seemed to tense up as the line was said. He nodded silently before placing his palm softly on the back of his head. "This time, eh?" he said to himself.

"Outside of this, there is nothing else for the morning agenda." She lowered both her hands, with the hologram fading as she did. "That is all."

Omegamon stood up, his cape flowing, freed from the seated position of before. "If that is all then I hereby adjourn this meeting. You are dismissed."

"Sir!" Dynasmon said, standing and saluting Omegamon. Shortly after, he turned and exited the room.

Duftmon turned to Omegamon as Dynasmon left, with her arms crossed. "Sir?"

Omegamon answered with a slight tilt of his head. "Yes, Duftmon?"

"You don't seem to be particularly excited, sir."

"I don't follow."

A small sigh left Duftmon's mouth. "You never did." She turned and saluted him nonchalantly. "Sir." she said teasingly, turning and exiting the room.

Duftmon left the War Room and headed straight toward the stairwell. Going downward, she reached the corridor to the Data Center, directly beneath the Throne Room. As she continued forward, she raised her left hand, calling forth a holographic keypad. After inputting her security code, a metal door at the end of the corridor opened, air hissing past it's edges as it moved. Lowering her hand, she stepped into the Data Center proper, a room filled with monitors, machines and the data banks of the Royal Knights. Duftmon looked around, searching for the Technician, Jewelbeemon.

"Jewel? Come on, Jewel. I don't have all day." She said, crossing her arms. There was no response. After a small moments pause, she took a breath and shouted, "JewelBeemon! Front and Center!"

Just then, a desk near the back of the room flipped as a tall, slender, humanoid digimon stumbled into sight. It was JewelBeemon, a sleek, crystalline digimon. He stumbled forward once more before standing before Duftmon and saluting her.

"Apologies ma'am! I was!...uh… I was asleep."

A sigh of annoyance audibly sounded from Duftmon's mouth. "I see. I need to get to the town at the base of the valley. Prepare the Matter Transporter."

"Y-yes ma'am!" yelped the insectoid digimon.

JewelBeemon then rushed to the control console, a few feet near his now upside down desk. After inputting the commands, the machine in the far corner began to hum softly. The tiles in the center lit up, revealing the ramp and the circular platform atop it.

"The Matter Transporter is ready for use, ma'am!"

Ignoring JewelBeemon's words, Duftmon casually walked to the machine. As soon as she steps onto the machine's center tile, the receiver shot a thin white beam into her. She was dematerialized, her and her data were then sent across through the air, exiting the castle at high speed. She appeared in an area with a few trees stretched across her field of vision. About 20 feet before her was a small town. She looked around and spotted the bushes, who's blue and white flowers were in full bloom. Walking off the platform she started to head towards the town.

After walking across the gap, she reached the entrance. Standing there were two Knightmons, both directly in the path toward the town. Both of them raised their hands to salute her as she reached them.

"Lady Duftmon!" They both said.

"I'm here for a routine check. Stand aside."

"Yes, ma'am." They said, moving out of her way. She started walking towards the center of town, where city hall is located. While walking, she noticed the town Digimon also walking about and doing their daily activities. Rookie and In Training Digimons were playing around, while some Champions were gossiping about trivial things. After a few minutes, Duftmon reached the center of town, rather, Town Square. In the center, a water fountain stood, accompanied by a few benches. Amused at the sight of the fountain, a slight smile formed across her lips. Soon after, she spotted the marble white building nearby, marked with the digicode 'Town Hall'

Upon her entry, she noticed immediately the solitary set of stairs near the back. A few office plants decorated the otherwise droll area. What caught her eye the most was the reception desk, headed by a Togemon, no less. Duftmon made her way to the receptionist, letting out a soft sigh of annoyance under the sound of her steps. Togemon heard the footsteps and looked up to see Duftmon approaching her.

"Oh, Duftmo-Err, Lady Duftmon! Are you here for the monthly check up on the town?"

"Yes, I am."

"Hold on. I'll inform the Mayor that you're here." Togemon then stepped to the intercom and pressed down on the button, "Mayor Guardromon, Lady Duftmon of the Royal Knights is here for the monthly report."

"Ah, yes. Please tell her to come up. My door is open."

"The Mayor-"

"I heard. I'll show myself in, thank you." Duftmon interrupted. Afterward, she headed towards the stairs leading to the top floor. When she reached the top, she saw a small hallway. At the end was a brown wooden door with a glass window that read 'Mayor'. She opened the door to see a room with bookshelves on the left, each filled to the brim, file cabinets on the right, neatly organized, and in the back, a desk where Guardromon was seated. As Duftmon approached, he opened his desk and pulled out a neat stack of papers.

"Ah, Duftmon. I have this month's report here. There hasn't been much happening, except a few noise complaints and a spousal dispute. But other than that, things have been quite peaceful."

Guardromon then put the papers in a filing folder and handed it over to Duftmon. Duftmon took the folder and opened it, inspecting the documents herself. After reading through them, she closed the folder and bowed her head to the Mayor.

"Well, if there is nothing else then I shall take my leave, Sir Mayor." With that, Duftmon turned around and walked back to the star . After reaching the ground floor and ignoring Togemon's farewell, she exited the building. Passing by the Fountain, she let out a small sigh of relief. She reached into a small pouch that she had strapped to her waist and dug out a single coin. "A bit for good luck." She said to herself before crouching down and dropping the coin in. Standing up, she continued heading towards the gate. As soon as she was halfway through her walk, she heard a loud voice from behind.

"Stop! Thief!" The voice yelled out.

She turned to see a Leomon chasing after a Rinkmon. Unfortunately for him, Rinkmon is much faster, almost ridiculously fast, running literal circles around the poor lion man digimon.

"Hahahaha! Catch me if ya can!" Rinkmon said as he started zig zagging around the lone Leomon.

"Yggdrasil, why?" Duftmon said to herself. She walked toward the two digimon and took a breath. "Kindly surrender yourself, thief!"

This caught the Rinkmon's attention, exciting him at the same time. "Ohhoho! Looks like I'm movin' up in the world! First police, n now Royal Knights!"

Duftmon drew her rapier and pointed toward the criminal. "I am Lady Duftmon of the Royal Knights. I wish only to say this once. Return what you stole. Otherwise, I _will_ take action."

"Take action?! Ya dumb broad! I'm a Rinkmon! I could run circles around youse before you even knew what for!"

Duftmon assumed her battle stance, smirking behind her helmet. "I hope you realize your mistake here then, Rinkmon. I say again." She said, swinging her sword swiftly through the air. "Return what you stole."

"Or what?!"

"Well, chances are, you're losing a leg.." She said grimly, her eyes now narrowed on her target.

The Rinkmon sneered behind his helm, posturing forward, getting ready to accelerate. "I'll take those chances!"

"Idiot." Duftmon said softly.

Just then, Rinkmon moved.

 _Each Rinkmon is able to move at high speeds. Some of the fastest have reached 98% the speed of light. This gives them ridiculous speed and agility._

He was in front of Duftmon in a near instant,winding up his punch. A snark grin decorated his face as he swung forward. "Take this!"he shouted. Just as the words exited his mouth, he felt his fist make contact. ' _Yes! I got 'er!'_ he thought to himself.

After making contact, he slowed to normal speed, as he knew the punch hit home.

And just as he did, he felt a sharp pain in his left knee.

"You are _way_ too slow for a Rinkmon.." Duftmon said, unfazed, holding her rapier in place as it had been run straight through Rinkmon's knee.

"What the?! Aaauuugh!? When did-?!"

Before he could finish, he felt heavy pressure slam into his chest, knocking him unconscious.

Duftmon pulled back her right fist, which had just been buried in the speedster's chest plate. She then caught the folder she had held earlier, which was falling from the sky.

 _As stated earlier, Rinkmon's are extremely fast. Even UlforceVeedramon would have issues keeping up. But, unlike UlforceVeedramon, most Rinkmons cannot hit very hard, and even fewer can hit anything accurately. Earlier, he was moving just shy of lightspeed, giving his eyes something called tunnel vision and red shifting. However, in the moment before he struck, he slowed down immensely to take proper aim for his punch, which at that speed would look like trying to punch a brown blob. At that moment, Duftmon tossed up the folder, which he ended up punching, slowing him down even more since he believed he made contact. Once he slowed to normal speed, Duftmon used her own combat speed to strike his knee with a quick lunge and his chest with a heavy blow. Had Rinkmon been more careful, this exchange would've ended VERY differently._

The Rinkmon was now unconscious on the ground. Duftmon she twisted her blade before drew her rapier from Rinkmon's knee, swishing it to the side before sheathing it. Small specs of blood decorated the pavement as a small groan exited the now defeated digimons lips.

"Isn't this a little excessive?! He just stole a bit of money!" Leomon asked, running up to Duftmon.

"Officer Leomon, I recommend that you watch your tone when in my presence. Especially if you are going to question my judgement. Correct me if I am wrong, but, I did just do your job. Apprehend this thief and prep him for incarceration. That will be all." She replied. Turning around, she continued on her way out of town.

Leomon stared at the knight as she walked. He grimaced at the sight of the defeated Rinkmon. Even if she was right. It still felt wrong.

After a few minutes Duftmon reached the Matter Transporter and stepped onto the center tile. Once more, she was dematerialized and shot across the air, into the Data Center. Once she materialized, she saw JewelBeemon.

"Welcome back, Lady Duftmon!" The insectoid greeted her. "Oh! Uhm..I am to inform you!"

"Yes? Inform me of what?" Duftmon said, slightly annoyed.

"Y-yes, uhh, oh! The other Knights have arrived. In fact, they arrived immediately after you left-ah!" He exclaimed before being shoved aside.

"Jewel you idiot! You should've told me earlier!" She scolded him, shoving him aside and rushing out.

Duftmon made a mad dash through the hallways and stairwells till she reached the War Room Doors. Before even touching the doors, she took a breath and paused to regain her composure. Upon opening the doors, she walked in to see Dukemon, Dynasmon, Magnamon, UlforceVeedramon, LordKnightmon, Examon, Craniumon, Gankoomon, Sleipmon, and Alphamon seated at the table. Omegamon was also there, in the same seat as before. They were speaking among themselves, but, stopped as they heard the door close. Collectively, the Royal Knight's turned their heads and attention to the now tardy Duftmon. A soft snicker exited UlforceVeedramon's draconic mouth, swiftly silenced by his right hand..

"Duftmon. Rather late today, aren't you?" Alphamon asked, his tone, condescending.

Duftmon let out a dry scoff, responding in stride. "I am hardly any later than you are early, Alphamon. Nearly four whole hours early, in fact."

"Well, it is not my fault that we were able to arrive earlier than our set time." Alphamon retorted.

"Perhaps, but, it is your fault I was not informed. In fact, you should have sent a report that you are gonna be arriving here sooner than anticipated." Duftmon responded, crossing her arms. Behind her helm, she softly scoffed at Alphamon.

Omegamon, then put a hand on Alphamon's shoulder, sensing the tension in the air. "Now, now. Let's not get too riled up." He turned his head to Duftmon. "Duftmon, you should know better than to challenge Alphamon so blatantly. Apologize and take your seat."

Duftmon brought her arms down as a small sigh of defeat sounded. "Yes, sir." She then turned to Alphamon, executing a disingenuous curtsy "I'm sorry Sir…Alphamon. I shall take my seat now." Straightening herself out, she walked to her seat, across from Dynasmon, who was smiling, clearly amused at her being put in her place..

"Well since you have arrived, let me catch you up on what we have been discussing. First, we were discussing the success of the negotiations with the Metal Empire. With the peace treaty not only did we avoid any chance of a war, but, we now a powerful and technologically advanced ally.. We were also discussing a plan to begin trade and commerce to get materials for our own expansion." Omegamon explained.

"Also with the peace treaty, we now can petition to own some of their land and build faculties, as long as we return the favor.." Dukemon stated.

"With that, we can increase the staff. Hopefully, we will get a lot of girls to join. I can show them my sweet moves." UlforceVeedramon said with a wide grin while stroking his chin. A soft sigh sounded from the other end of the table.

"Must you be like this, UlforceVeedramon? Especially when it pertains to the opposite gender…" LordKnightmon asked.

"Hey, if you're jealous, then don't worry. There is plenty of me to go around." UlforceVeemon said with a grin.

"I respectfully decline your… offer." LordKnightmon told UlforceVeemon with a bit of disgust.

"Moving back to the matter at hand. We are about to decide where exactly we should place our expansion in the Metal Empire. Duftmon, can you pull up the holographic map of the Metal Empire?" Omegamon asked her. Duftmon nodded, raising her hand, triggering the holographic display. Craniumon pointed out a rocky terrain with a big mountain on the map.

"I think here would work. It is the perfect place to train our forces. Especially that mountain. It will help strengthen the Digimon muscles and climbing skills." Craniumon told them. Dukemon looked at the area where he was pointing and shook his head.

"Sorry, my friend, but, that land is too uneven for us to build any facilities on. I believe a good place should be an area near the Capital City. I would say a good mile or two." Dukemon said to them.

"Hmm, yeah, you're right. Since it would be close to their Capital, they won't question us too much." Magnamon added, leaning forward. "We could also recruit some of their digimon to help build trust between us."

"I concur." Duftmon said, zooming into a section of the map. "This would be a perfect place for a training facility. Even ground for the builders and only 5 miles from the Capital City, Xaoc." She moved the maps perspective to show the city skyline in the distance. "I can also post some of my Stealth Force there to-"

"Duftmon, there will be none of that." Alphamon protested, interrupting her.

"Excuse me, sir. I was simply saying that, should they turn on us-" she began.

"They will not!" Alphamon said, now slamming his hand on the table.

Duftmon saw this and looked at him, now glaring daggers into him. She growled softly behind her helm as Alphamon frowned and locked his gaze on hers.

"Okay, girls, calm down." LordKnightmon said sarcastically, standing up. "Duftmon, I think that you and Dukemon made a good point on having the facilities near the city, but, don't go making assumptions about our allies so early on. Alphamon, I understand how you feel as well, but, Duftmon was just looking out for the Order's wellbeing." LordKnightmon told them, trying to diffuse the situation. Alphamon then took a deep breath and exhaled.

"Hmm. I suppose you are right, LordKnightmon. I understand your intention, Duftmon." He said, taking his palm off the table. "I stand by my words, regardless. No Stealth Force."

"But-" Duftmon started until she was cut off by LordKnightmon.

"I think that is a fabulous idea. We can also use the facilities to recruit Digimon from the Metal Empire and build further relations with them." LordKnightmon said to them.

"I see. You're right, LordKnightmon, good idea. Nothing like a good trust exercise, eh?" Sleipmon said, laughing softly to himself.

"Hey! That was my-oh forget it." Magnamon said softly, letting out a small huff.

"Hah! Maybe next time, short stack." UlforceVeedramon joked softly, snickering as the discussion ended.

"Good. Any objections?" Alphamon asked them, staring straight at Duftmon. Duftmon held her tongue, tightening her fist under the table. "All right. With that, I believe the meeting is adjourned."

"Finally, I can get some food. Catch ya guys later." UlforceVeedramon said before he stood up and bolted out of the room. Magnamon sighed at this.

"Couldn't he have waited for the rest of us…" Magnamon quietly said to himself. Soon the rest of the Knights stood up and one by one, each of them leaving soon after.

Duftmon stood up and closed the hologram with the same motion she had made earlier. After the hologram closed, she opened a small terminal on the tableside, resembling a portable computer, inputting the information for the log. Afterward, she turned to leave, but, was stopped by the tall, slender figure of Dukemon, bumping into his breastplate, as she was still in a rising motion.

"Uhm. Ow?" she said, straightening up her stance as Dukemon let out a slight chuckle. As a result of the sudden movement, her long, blonde hair was now almost completely eclipsing her face.

"You know, you should have more trust in your fellow Mon." He said, trying to fix her hair. He brought the center back into place so that he could see only her eyes and the lower half of her helmet "Not everyone is out to get us. Or you."

Duftmon scoffed, brushing his hand aside and pushing the rest of her hair back in a single stroke. "If you truly believe that, then you must not know how the world really works." Reaching for his Guilmon-shaped Visor on his helm, she pulled it down over his eyes. "Or maybe you're just blind, Dukemon." She said, teasingly.

"I'm not blind, I just see a brighter world." Dukemon jested as he put his visor up. "You should try it sometime, Duftmon." This prompted a small sigh from her.

"Oh, Dukemon. Never change." She said before turning around swiftly, whipping her long, blonde hair in his face. She then proceeded to walk out. Dukemon sputtered at the sudden flash of yellow, but as she walked off, he laughed to himself.

"Never."

A few hours later, in front of the gates of the Royal Knights Castle, a figure walked into focus. Wearing spiked bright white armor, he stood tall and slender. Each spike was tipped with a golden finish and his humanoid shape was complimented only by his dragonic tail and head. His tail's tip was brandishing it's own red ornate blade. A red cape came down from his shoulders and flowed to the floor. He was carrying a backpack and two duffel bags. Walking to the gate, he began to grin to himself. He finally stopped right as he reached the gate, close enough to touch.

"Finally, I'm here!" he exclaimed in excitement.

His moment of levity and excitement didn't last long, though. Soon after his exclamation of happiness, a single blade lined up with his throat. He held still as best he could, despite his rather tall frame. He looked down to see the blade and followed it down to the hand of its owner. He looked up to see a rather small framed knight. She wore brown and white armor, had a red sash around her waist and long blonde hair flowing from behind her helm. Her headpiece was a ornate lion head. Two pure white wings were folded on each of her pauldrons. She shifted the blade ever so closely against his neck.

"Quite." Duftmon said, smirking. "So tell me..Who exactly are you?"


End file.
